The Writer's Companion
by SweetSnapess
Summary: Madelyn Davis, an aspiring romance writer, seeks inspiration in the misty wilderness of Scotland. What she finds is a love not even she could have imagined and a man that will redefine what passion truly means. Now if only her hero wasn't so snarky.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes**

**1. I want to thank my wonderful beta, Trickie Woo, who took the time to help out a new fan-fic writer. It really means a lot to me. **

**2. This story is not DH or HBP compliant, Snape lives, because it is just a better world with him around. And I decided to keep Dumbledore too because he is just so good at getting Snape all riled up.**

**3. I love to hear from my readers, so please leave a review!**

**Prologue**

"**I'm twenty-nine, Emily, twenty-nine and alone. My little sister, who happens to be a bouncy twenty-year-old blond, is getting married next week." **

**Madelyn sighed into the receiver as she turned to her reflection in her vanity mirror. It was just another one of those days in which she was forced to realize that when it came to joy in life, her sister seemed to have it all. In short, Maddie was suffering from a severe case of jealousy-induced doldrums and there was only one person who could save her from her despair.**

"**Look, your sister is just getting married to spite both you and **_**his **_**mother. I give it two months tops."**

**Emily Matheson had always been a person to reject false reassurances in favor of the truth and she often spoke these realities in the bluntest fashion. Sometimes that quality could get both of the girls in trouble, in fact it usually did, but there were times when the brutal truth went in Maddie's favor.**

"**Emily! That is an awful-Do you really think so?" **

**Maddie couldn't stop the sound of her relief from bleeding into her voice.**

"**Of course I do! She is such a snot, Maddie, always trying to rub your nose in her good fortune." **

**Emily let out a malicious giggle. "Think of it this way, the first one to get married will be the first one to get divorced." **

"**I don't want her to get a divorce. I want Evie to be happy, I honestly do. I just don't want her to be happy before me." **

**Even Maddie had to cringe at how resentful and petty her statement sounded. It seemed immature to be so vain about a thing like her little sister getting married before her. But no matter how she tried to deny it the feelings of envy and anger were real and so very intense. **

**Deep down Maddie knew that the days of her youth were slowly slipping from her grasp, and the long stretch of maturity yawned before her in a chasm of loneliness. The reality of the situation was that soon she would be thirty and she would be both single and childless, and while to some it may seem as though that was both normal and ideal for a young woman, in her house to be thirty and unmarried was simply unacceptable.**

**Maddie knew that most of her tumultuous feelings were a product of the importance her mother put on marriage and her own biological clock chiming in. But as she continued to critique her reflection in the mirror she couldn't help but see the small signs of aging. Like the way her skin seemed to be dull and lifeless, or the little lines that seemed to have popped up around her mouth and eyes. She was only twenty-nine years old, but why did she look and feel so tired?**

"**Is it too late for me, Eme," Maddie whispered into the phone. "Have I passed my prime already?"**

"**Maddie, you're twenty-nine, hardly on your death bed. Your life is just beginning; there is someone out there for you. In the meanwhile…"**

"**In the meanwhile," Madelyn interrupted, "I get to watch my sister walk down the aisle, preen and prance at the reception, and then drive off in a limo." Maddie stopped to take a breath. **

"**She's going to Martha's Vineyard, you know. Two weeks spent doing nothing but laughing and making love."**

"**I hadn't heard…isn't it cold this time of year?" **

"**Emily," Maddie said, her slight smile evident in her voice, "It is the middle of July."**

"**Whatever, she's going to yuppie paradise for two fun-filled weeks of spending her husband's money." **

"**Exactly," Maddie said on a sigh, "she is going to a romantic place to spend time with her husband, who is so in love with her that he simply can't refuse her anything."**

"**Yet," Emily said softly, "he can't refuse her yet. That will change when the shine of newfound love wears off. I hate to say it, Maddie, but the truth is she likes his money and the life-style that comes with it. That isn't true love, and it won't last."**

"**Some love is better than no love, and at least she gets to be happy for awhile."**

"**You're kidding me, right?" Emily's voice was warm with her budding annoyance. **

"**Who are you to complain? You're going to Scotland in less than a month to pursue your career as a writer. Sinister little sister will be happy for two weeks, you will find memories to last you a life-time." **

"**Yeah, I guess." Maddie agreed half-heartedly, but she really wasn't so sure anymore.**

"**You're going to be okay, Maddie, I promise. Who knows, in between writing and researching you may find a man. You know, a guy to fall madly in love with, or at least get laid by. I'm sure you can find a man to do that for you." **

"**I don't know, Eme," Maddie said, "I am beginning to doubt my appeal."**

"**You may doubt it, Maddie, but the guys sure don't. You just watch you're going to find the man of your dreams!" **


	2. Chapter 1: A Shove in Fate's Direction

Author's Notes:

1. First and foremost I have to give major props to my beta Tricky Woo. She really does miracle work. But I am still human, so if there are any remaining mistakes…they are all mine.

2. Here is the first chapter; I hope all of you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. But I won't know one way or the other if you don't take a moment and leave me a review.

Response to Reviewers:

Libertyelyot: I am so glad to have you back, and in your honor I have decided to revamp, expand, and reveal a better version of the story you originally read.

If you want the unedited, (read dirty version), just let me know.

An Anti-Sheep Cheese Muffin: Wow, now that is what I call a pen name!

Thank you for leaving your review and here is the update you requested. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1: A Shove in Fate's Direction

The field was an unending tapestry of luscious foliage that flowed and clashed to create an amalgamation of color. Rich greens were sewn together with patches of vibrant violets, royal reds, and luminous yellows while the freshly fallen dew danced and sparkled in the rising sun's rays. It was a new paradise encompassed by air heavy with moisture and undisturbed by any breeze. It was a stillness that allowed the luxurious scent of freshly blossomed jasmine to arise from the fertile earth without interruption. It was glorious.

Madelyn wandered the meadow, her skin uncovered and welcoming the morning sun, her hair unbound and flowing with her movements. To her this was home, this was heaven, this was where she belonged; in this world that she shared only with the grasshoppers that frolicked and chirped among the flowers and grass. This world was a place seemingly forgotten by all else except for the sun, the flowers and the sweet composition of sound that was even now winding their way to her ears.

She paused as deep impassioned notes clashed and merged together to form a melody that was as familiar was it was unexpected. She tuned her ear into the sounds, and spurred on by the emotions of triumph and disquiet sought to chase down the symphony's origins. For that is what the ever increasing sound was, a symphony, Beethoven's Fifth to be exact and it seemed to be coming from a hot house that hadn't been there before.

Maddie slowly pulled the glass doors open and put her head inside. What greeted her were rows and rows of happy orange tulips that seemed all to turn toward her in salutation. And as she walked amongst the friendly flora they seemed to reach out with their leaves to touch her in greeting, but she passed by them with nary a glance of recognition. For there at the very end, in an isolated corner, sat a blue tulip and from its yawning mouth came the ominous tones for which she had searched.

'Wait, that isn't right,' something in her mind whispered. 'Music doesn't come bursting out of flowers.'

Maddie stared at the offending blossom for what seemed hours before the niggling voice began to compose itself into resounding reason.

'No, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony doesn't spew out of a flower's bloom, but it does have a habit of singing out of her-'

"My phone!"

Just like that Maddie's dreams of a floral filled heaven were over and a sunless reality slammed into her sleep-clogged mind sending her half- awakened body catapulting to the floor.

Cursing her luck, the day, and the blankets wrapped securely around her legs she reached up and snatched the ringing cell phone from the nightstand.

"What?!" Maddie croaked viciously in the receiver.

"Maaa-deee," whined a voice that originated from an ocean away.

"Oh God Evie, what do you want?"

"Momma said that you can't talk to me that way."

"Good thing she isn't around to hear me then." Maddie mumbled in reply, her head thumping to the floor in resignation.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing Evie, can we just get to the part where you tell me what you want and then I hang up and go back to bed?"

"Well I just wanted to call and invite you to my, excuse me, OUR welcome home party. Richard and I will be returning from our honeymoon in just three days."

Evie's not so subtle reminder to her newly married state coupled with her self-satisfied tone ground on Maddie's already flaring nerves.

"You're throwing your own welcome home party?"

"Well I wouldn't have to if my errant sister slash bridesmaid had offered to do it for me."

"Okay, Evie, there are so many things wrong with what you just said. But first let me just remind you of two quick facts."

"What?" Evie snapped back.

"One, I am in London, remember that? Went to Scotland and then came to England and now I am going back to Scotland …won't be home for months, any of that ring a bell?"

"Oh yeah, you're doing your…what was it again?"

"Book, Evie, I am writing my book. But that isn't the point, Evie. It's what!?" Maddie paused to push herself up and squint at the alarm clock.

"Good Lord! It is three o'clock in the morning here!"

"I forgot about the time change, shoot me."

"Don't tempt me, Evie; I swear I think I could do it."

"Anyways," Evie said ignoring Maddie, "I think it is well past the time you stopped chasing after these childish dreams of yours. You should come home and try to concentrate on finding yourself a man. You know, Momma agrees with me, she thinks you're way too old to be traipsing about the world."

"Stuff it Evie, I am going to bed." Then, as an afterthought, Maddie offered, "enjoy your party."

With that Maddie slammed her phone shut and threw it in the general direction of the bed.

'Screw you and your momma too,' Maddie thought.

Thus satisfied with her snide, yet somewhat witty remark, she pulled the remaining covers off of the bed and promptly fell asleep on the floor.

* * *

King's Cross Station was packed; a proverbial sea of people coming in waves but never receding. This left a sleep-deprived Maddie to fight her way through a flood of faces in a desperate attempt to reach platform number ten.

She had exactly eleven minutes to get to her platform and board the monstrous metal beast. To those well-versed in traveling by train, eleven minutes may seem an eternity. But to Maddie getting on the train, finding a seat, and stowing her carry-on in under fifteen minutes seemed a Herculean task. One she wasn't quite certain she could accomplish, especially with all of the human traffic that seemed determined to block her way.

'Oh for heaven's sake,' Maddie thought as she was once again shoved from her path. 'I thought the British were supposed to be unfailingly polite.'

The seconds ticked by in what felt like minutes as she was jostled this way and that. Seeing the sign that declared platform ten directly ahead, the overly stressed, overly tired Maddie brought all of her American nature to the forefront and ploughed through the people standing between her and her destination. And after a few minutes of pushing and being pushed she was finally starting to make some progress. In her relief she failed to notice the large man who was barreling towards her. She caught a brief glimpse of his pug-like face before the force of his body crashed into hers sending her smaller frame hurtling towards the wall.

Maddie had exactly one second to think, 'Oh hell', and close her eyes against the approaching impact with the wall. But the immediate pain she had braced herself to feel turned out to be a cool, tingling, sticky sensation, not unlike what one would feel when walking through a spider web. The feeling was so unexpected that her eyes flew open in surprise…just in time to see the floor meet her face for the second time that day.

'Holy monkey on Moses' back!' Maddie thought as she sucked in air against the pain. 'That hurt like a mother of a son!'

"Oh dear, are you alright?" A kind female voice clucked from above her.

Maddie looked up from her undignified position on the floor, smiled and pulled herself to her knees.

"Yeah, I think I am alright. I'm sure I'll have a few bruises here and there, but nothing too severe."

The woman helped Maddie up from the floor and began to fuss over her with the sincere concern only a loving mother could have. Maddie was so overwhelmed by the kind but somewhat rushed antics that she could do little else but stand dumbly as the woman brushed bits of dirt from her clothes before gathering Maddie's scattered baggage together.

The older woman didn't seem to notice Maddie's lack of response, simply smiled and kindly asked if this was her first time and then pointed her in the right direction before hustling off.

The little red-haired woman had been so generous and caring, and Maddie's experience had been so harrowing that she simply forgot about the weird events preceding her fall. She just belatedly thanked the woman's fading figure and rushed towards the man calling out the final boarding call.

Abandoning her two bags of luggage with the conductor and hefting her carry-on up onto the train Maddie raced down the hall and entered the first empty compartment she could find.

'Thank God I made it,' was Maddie's mantra of the moment.

"What do you mean she has a muggle ticket to Scotland?" Professor Remus J. Lupin asked the harried looking conductor.

"Jus' what I said, sir." John Coachman replied with no little amount of exasperation in his voice.

"She came a rushin' up them stairs into the train, handed me 'er ticket and raced off. She looked like she knew what she was doin', so's I didn't bother to look 'til just a few moments ago. And when I saw she had this muggle ticket I came straight to you."

"Of course, Coachman, I don't blame you." Remus sighed and rubbed his scarred fingers through his fading brown hair.

"But you do realize what this means, don't you? We have a muggle on the train to Hogwarts."

"Not necessarily, sir," Coachman replied slowly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the way I sees it, she's most likely a witch who just bought the wrong ticket. She didn't look like she was from 'round here. I mean, she has to be a witch to get through the barrier, doesn't she?"

"One would suppose so, still it's for the best that I find her and get her explanation."

Remus turned to look down the daunting hallway of just one of the many cars the engine happily towed to Hogwarts.

"Did you happen to see where she went?"

"No sir, I didn't, with it bein' so close to departure and all."

"Just as well," Remus smiled reassuringly. "I will handle this. There is no need for concern at this point. I can take care of this…I'm sure."

* * *

"_Katherine stared out of the battlement window, her thoughts as hurried as her husband's attacks, as powerful as the blow from his broad sword. Yet, one thought stayed constant among the many that flew in and out of her mind; she was now a married woman. A woman wed to man that she could not love nor respect, a murderer, a common brute, a royal bastard." _

Maddie grunted her disapproval of her written lines before closing her journal a bit more roughly than was required.

The words just weren't coming to her today; the characters seemed to dance just beyond her imagination's grasp. And it certainly didn't help that this monstrosity of a train could do nothing more than wobble to and fro. This was nothing like the first time she had ridden the train from Edinburgh to London. No, that ride had been smooth, sedate, and really quite enjoyable. Of course, she hadn't had the hundreds of children running up and down the corridor screaming in wild abandon, their annoying little giggles invading the sanctity of her cabin. She really had no love for children, especially those of the adolescent variety.

Putting her journal back into the backpack that doubled as her carry-on, Maddie turned to stare out her own window. The view was different, no hunky men swinging bits of gleaming metal about, but no less enjoyable on an entirely different level. She allowed the fields of endless green, the hills topped with bits of clinging mist to soothe her aggravated nerves. Before long she was so absorbed in the scenery that she lost all connection with the space she currently occupied.

She never saw the man's weary face peer briefly in her window, nor did she see it reappear wreathed with a thankful smile. She did, however, hear the door open; and she most definitely saw the man that entered her car.

"How do you do?" The man asked quietly, carefully.

She didn't miss the ruminative gaze that wandered from the top of her head, adorned with a pony-tail, to the very tip of her sensible running shoes. His soft brown eyes seemingly taking in everything about her.

"Hello," Maddie responded while pulling herself up from her unbecoming slouch.

"Do you mind if I join you, Miss…?"

"Davis, Madelyn. Uh, well, that is to say my first name is Madelyn my last…name is… Davis."

'Don't you just sound like Einstein? You're such a dweeb' Maddie thought as she gave a nervous chuckle and shook the man's proffered hand.

"May I sit?"

"Oh! Of course, excuse me."

'Can this get any worse?' Maddie questioned herself as she watched the stranger take the offered seat.

"Miss Davis, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Remus Lupin."

"Mr. Lupin, it's nice to meet you too."

"I hope you don't think me too brash for asking, but are you an American by any chance?"

Remus smiled as he settled in and Maddie couldn't help but notice that it was a warm, genuine smile. He showed just enough teeth to display their even whiteness without appearing the great buffoon, and it went with his eyes. They were sad, seemingly tired eyes that seemed to complement his nature; eyes that were currently starting at her in anticipation of an answer.

"Hmm? Oh, yes! American!"

'It just got worse,' Maddie silently announced to herself.

"What gave me away? Was it the accent?"

"I'm afraid so," Remus chuckled, "not one heard often in this particular area of the UK. What brings you all the way to Scotland Miss Davis?"

"Writing and research. That is to say I am doing research for a book that I am writing. It's set in both England and Scotland so I thought the best place to write it would be here."

"It's as good a reason as any. What is your book about? That is, if you don't mind my asking?"

"No, no, you can ask away; but I am sure you'll laugh." Maddie responded, subconsciously stalling for time.

"Try me."

"Alright, I'm writing a Historical Romance."

Maddie watched as his breath caught in his throat and his eyes bulged and widened with shock.

'At least he isn't laughing outright,' Maddie thought.

"That's-I can-I wasn't expecting that. I've never met anyone who wrote Romance novels, well aside from Madam Malkin who does it on the side, but…wow."

"We're not aliens, Mr. Lupin. I can assure you there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people who do just what I do. I've met a good portion of those of us who do write historical romances. Although, I must admit I haven't even heard of Madam Malkin."

Mr. Lupin wasn't laughing at her joke nor did he seem prepared to share any information about this previously unheard of Madam. Well, she was previously unheard of by Maddie at any rate.

Perhaps he was uncomfortable thinking that he had somehow insulted Maddie with his surprise. That wasn't the case; in fact Mr. Lupin had handled her admission with far more class than any other man to whom she had dared divulge the nature of her profession. So, in an effort to soothe him Maddie offered a smile of reassurance. Mr. Lupin still refused to smile back.

"Do you know where you are…exactly?"

The question seemed to come out of nowhere and the slight feelings of relief seemed to drop from her heart and tumble into her stomach, weighing it down with a forming sense of panic.

"I'm on a train headed to Scotland." Maddie replied slowly as if she were taking to a toddler or mentally unstable man.

"Headed to Edinburgh?"

"Yes," the panic was growing into full-fledge terror. Although whether Maddie was more frightened of the man, or the possibility that she had boarded the wrong train, she couldn't yet tell.

Just when she thought she could stand that awkward silence no longer, the lanky man across from her shattered it with a nervous chuckle.

"How do you get along with all those muggles?"

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes**:

1. I just want to say thanks to my mega-beta Tricky Woo. She has gone above and beyond the call of duty in helping with this story.

2. This is my second chapter, and I hope that I am at least improving a little as I go. This is my first time writing a fan-fic and I am still playing with the length and timing. So any constructive suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated!

**Response to Reviewers**:

**LibertyElyot:** Yes, the wizarding world is sorely lacking in the smut department. That is why I decided to send them Maddie who is guaranteed to rock their world!

**Mark Darcy/Tricky Woo:** You will be getting the full version, dirt and smut included! Heck, you're going to be spell checking all the naughty scenes…don't you just feel lucky!

Chapter 2: Welcome to Bedlam

"Albus, we have Muggle aboard the train."

Remus' voice shook ever so slightly, a small reflection of the panic he felt inside. The young woman who had boarded the Hogwarts Express with a Muggle ticket was, indeed a Muggle. A non-magical being was even now speeding towards the foremost institute of magical education.

"Do we indeed?"

Remus watched as the wizened headmaster paced before the hearth in his office stroking his beard in a distracted matter. Each movement was slow, as if he felt no sense of urgency or alarm. He just stepped and stroked, stepped and stroked, turned and paused only to continue the routine.

"How did you come to this conclusion, Remus?"

"John Coachman informed me that a woman boarded the train with a Muggle ticket," Remus began. "The train immediately began its departure leaving Coachman with just barely enough time to levitate her luggage into storage. When he alerted me of the situation I immediately sought the young lady out and questioned her as covertly as possible."

"What was it she said that led you to believe she was not just a very confused witch?"

"I asked her how she was handling all of the Muggles. Albus, she looked at me as if I were absolutely loony."

Albus nodded and turned a chair towards the fireplace, sitting he steepled his fingers before his mouth and squinted his eyes. "Could the young lady simply be unfamiliar with that term?"

"Well she is an American Albus, but there is so much more." For one, she is not dressed as a witch, and she was not (carrying) caring a wand that I could see."

Remus waited as the headmaster seemed to consider the evidence. He really couldn't imagine how the man could be so calm about a situation like this. Albus was certainly handling this difficult turn of events a great deal better than he.

"Headmaster," Remus interrupted the silence, "what would you like me to do?"

"Bring her to me, Remus. That is the only thing you can do."

"I could Apparate her back to muggle London and Obliviate her."

"No! That will not do, because I am completely unconvinced that she is a Muggle."

Remus was shocked. How could he not believe what seemed so obvious? "Headmaster, I can assure you…"

"Remus, there are numerous spells on that gateway to block a Muggle's entrance onto the Hogwarts platform. If there weren't this would have happened far sooner and with greater regularity."

Albus paused and leaned back in his chair, his eyes no longer on (Remus's face in the embers.

"She was allowed entrance for a reason, Remus, bring her to me."

"How should I go about this?"

He really couldn't see Madelyn Davis just quietly acquiescing to ride in a coach with a complete stranger, to an unknown destination.

"Tell her the truth; that the train has reached it's final destination. If Hogsmeade is not where she desires to be, then offer her a room at the castle with the promise of transportation in the morning."

"And if that should fail?"

"Then do what needs be done, dear boy; but keep it quiet and keep her safe."

"I understand, Headmaster."

Remus pulled his head out of the portable floo, and dusted the bits of ash from his hair and shoulders. His hand made the movements that were a distracted motion created out of habit, while his mind searched for just the right plan.

* * *

"_I just wanted to be sure you were getting on without any struggles_" that is what he said. Or, at least that is what he said after she had asked him to repeat himself. Maddie didn't truly believe that had been what he had said. Then again Maddie had to admit that she was incredibly tired, and she wasn't exactly in the most relaxed state she had ever been in. Perhaps she had simply misheard him the first time; she could have sworn he had said something about mugs, or puggles. But neither phrasing would have made sense, so she clearly had misunderstood him.

Yet, Maddie couldn't shake this feeling that something was wrong with everything and everyone on this train. First was the incredible number of unsupervised children on this train. Looking back Maddie could remember seeing only two adults during her entire time on board; one being the man that had taken her bags, the other being Mr. Lupin. (Surely, there had to be more people over the age of eighteen traveling today than just herself and those two men.

Not to mention that these children were just weird. At least half of the little monsters she saw running from cabin to cabin had been carrying sticks. And an increasing number of them had changed into uniforms which would denote a private school or something similar. One could suppose that these were just a bunch of kids that had been bundled off to some sort of boarding school for the year. That would explain the uniforms but not the sticks; and none of the travel guides Maddie had read mentioned anything about sticks being a mandatory tool for schools.

'Relax," Maddie thought to herself, 'you know how common fads are among the younger generation. This is probably just one of those things that all the kids are doing now-a-days.'

'But that doesn't explain the change of scenery,' a separate voice argued.

It was true, this didn't seem to be the same way she had come when traveling from Edinburgh to London. The first trip and been dotted with tunnels and sudden bursts of civilization which included stops a various stations. This time the trip was one long unending jaunt accompanied by the most breathe-taking but continuous views of unending wilderness. That was a fact no amount of rationalization could really explain.

Sure, there could very well be an alternate return route; but it was unlikely that the new route would exclude all of the places it had stopped at before. How would the people traveling from those various small, charming towns and villages get home? And it made no sense to lug those people all the way to a place so far out of the way as they obviously were.

Add to that the obvious concern Mr. Lupin had shown about her presence on board, and Maddie was left with one terrifying suspicion: She was on the wrong train.

* * *

Remus searched through the sea of miniature faces, eyes alight with excitement, for one scared and confused woman. The station had all but cleared before she popped her head out of the doorway of her car, looking just as worried as Remus believed she would. Calling up a breath from the very bottom of his toes he cleared his head, straightened his posture, and strode towards his mark with as much confidence as he could fake.

"Miss Davis," Remus called as he approached, "may I be of assistance?"

She paused, her body tensing over the luggage she was bent over. Turning her head to peer at him, suspiciously over her shoulders she simply nodded.

"Excellent, how may I be of help?"

"You could direct me to the nearest phone. I'm sure you are aware that I obviously got on the wrong train."

Remus chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "I had my suspicions, but I wasn't positive."

"Yes, well, no cure for it now but to find out where I am and find another way to my hotel."

"That may be a bit difficult."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, that was the last train to come through Hogsmeade for ten months."

Remus watched as the worry turned to panic on her face, her eyes widening in disbelief, and her mouth thinning out into a distressed frown.

"You can't be serious. How do these people get around, I mean to London and such?"

"We…uh…we have alternate means of travel. I can take you with me to the school; you will be able to find help there."

Remus directed her attention to the one remaining wagon. He smiled with more confidence and sanguinity than he felt in hopes of reassuring her and convincing her to come along quietly. But what he got was another assessing look and a quiet, but firm, refusal.

"No, I am perfectly fine. I will just gather my luggage and find a phone, and then I'll be in a taxi and on my way out of here before long."

Remus swallowed the tight knot that had formed in his throat, forcing it to come to rest in his stomach. As Miss Davis babbled on, Remus looked around for any remaining students or curious by-standers. Seeing none he reached into the pocket of his robes and clasped his wand, already regretting what was to come.

"Now, I don't mean to be rude but I am in a bit of…a…hurry."

She stopped talking as she turned and came face to face with his wand. Her first reaction was mild bemusement as she stared at the ten-inch length of wood pointed at her face. But as her eyes rose to meet his, true terror dilated her pupils. Her breath whooshed out as the muscles surrounding her lungs suddenly flexed in shock.

"I am terribly sorry about this…"

* * *

The first thing Maddie was conscious of was the darkness of varying degrees that surrounded her and the nagging pain that pulsed at the back of her head. Thank all that was right in the world for the cushion that supported her throbbing cranium, but the lumpy contour that cradled the rest of her body had to go.

"She's waking up, Headmaster."

"She is indeed, Remus, you may want to retrieve a vial of headache potion from my desk."

Who were these people that had the audacity to interrupt her mental monologue? The first voice she recognized just vaguely, the second she knew she had never before heard in her life. But that name, Remus, she had heard that name before.

'Remus…Remus…,' Maddie chanted the syllables in her head trying to place a face with the name. Then it clicked: Remus was Remus Lupin and that meant the train, getting lost, another damn stick, and then…

Maddie slammed her eyes open startling the two men who hovered mere inches above her, and who in turn terrified her. It took every fiber of self-restraint Maddie had to refrain herself from heaving herself up off that couch and running. No, she needed a plan of action and then a decided advantage in the form of a surprise attack.

Allowing the two men to cluck over her, ask her this and that, Maddie surreptitiously snuck glance at the room around her. To her left was a desk littered with odd paper rolls, which one could only compare to papyrus scrolls, a perch decorated with some squawking bit of feathers. To her right was the back of the couch, but Maddie could see the top of what appeared to be a fireplace peeking up above the wooden border of the purple monstrosity she was lying on.

So far it seemed she was surrounded by dead ends, and just as she was about to lose faith she saw what she was looking for. At the end of the couch, previously blocked by her bared big toe, was a door, and the worn wooden passageway looked like heaven to her.

Drawing her eyes away from her one chance for escape, she nodded at whatever that traitorous dog Lupin was saying and made to put the bottle to her lips as a sign of acquiescence only to stop as the rim touched the tip of her bottom lip. While she was looking up at the two men who were looking upon her so intently, time seemed to slow down. Before she even made the decision the foul smelling liquid was splashing the older man in the face.

Maddie didn't even stop to breathe as she pulled herself up from the sagging cushions, grabbing Mr. Lupin's stick and propelling herself into a forward motion. She had actually made it a few steps only to have the soft throbbing erupt into bright flashes of pain that threatened her conscious state.

'Stay with it, Maddie, just keep moving!'

Pushing herself past her pain Maddie tore away from the office, jumping over a footstool and stumbling her way towards the door. She could hear the resounding thuds of a man's feet racing towards her at a speed that surpassed her own. Fearing capture and retribution, Maddie drew on all of her adrenaline a called forth a burst of speed.

Taking the steps two at a time and hearing her pursuer slow his pace Maddie began to feel as if she may just get away. Seeing the last of the stairs quickly approaching Maddie actually felt no more doubt, she was going to make it.

That was until the man in black swooped around the corner, his stick drawn and raised to eye-level. Maddie had a second to blink before a burst a purple light washed out everything around her.

* * *

"What do you mean, 'calm down'?"

Maddie screeched from the couch where she valiantly fought to free herself from this room and these three men.

"That great, greasy-haired…bastard shot me with a stick! He fucking shot me with a stick! Why the hell can't I get off of this couch?!"

"Miss Davis, please, just calm yourself and listen to us."

The old man continued to try and soothe her into silence, but Maddie wanted none of it.

"Uh, hello…shot with a stick, remember?"

Maddie paused, a startling thought coming to the forefront of her mind. "Oh my God, am I bleeding? Can you tell?"

"You're perfectly fine, Miss Davis," the old man assured her. "The Ablego is just a stunning spell, a rather more powerful one, but nothing that would cause you any great harm."

"No, that was accomplished in the fall! What the fuck did you do that for?"

Maddie cast her accusing glare upon the man drenched in black. The man looked like midnight walking, his hair and clothes the sky, his skin the sickly moon, and his rows upon rows of buttons the depressed stars. She had never really liked the night, it was made for sleeping not for gazing. Why wasn't she at home sleeping right now?

"I did it to stop you from fleeing into the school proper."

How Maddie hated this man, this cruel creature with his icy demeanor, his outdated dress, his endless obsidian eyes. Yes, she especially hated his eyes; they spoke of a coldness that Maddie instinctively feared.

"Please, Miss Davis, we really mean you no harm. I simply wanted to meet you, to welcome you to Hogwarts, to offer an explanation for the things you see around you."

If Maddie was going to get her questions answered, the older man seemed like the man to ask. "Who are you?"

"I, my dear, am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am also very close to running late, so I can't stay and chat for long; but I shall leave you with this: We," Albus said softly, pointing to the other two men, "are wizards, and I have reason to believe that you, Miss Davis, may be a witch."

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes:**

I want to thank my beta, Tricky Woo, who has spent a great amount of time and patience on this story.

Thank you to all of my reviewers, your opinions and suggestions mean a great deal to me.

**Response to Reviewers:**

BriarRose24: Sorry for the delay, but I finally got this chapter up for all of my readers. I hope you continue to enjoy.

iCraft: Thank you! I appreciate yours, and everyone else's reviews. They keep me inspired.

**Chapter 3: Who I've Been Is Not Who I Am**

"Balstrude, Elizabeth"

'Not another one,' Snape lamented silently to himself. 'How can I be put upon to teach such miserable creatures?'

"Slytherin!"

Snape inwardly sighed as he watched the next generation of pudgy insolence ungracefully trot to her fellow Slytherins. He could feel his chance at the house cup slowly slipping away with each name assigned to his house; of course, that didn't stop him from politely clapping. Yet even that fierce grudge-induced competitiveness was somehow smothered by the odd creature that, even now, waited in Albus's study.

"Porter, Franklin ."

'What is Albus thinking, allowing that creature to stay?'

"Hufflepuff!"

'To leave that flea-bitten mongrel the only being to guard over the harridan,' Snape smiled a secret, cruel smile. 'Perhaps she will once again best the beast and run wild through the school. That should call into doubt Remus's abilities.'

"Truggle, Thomas."

'That vagabond is probably up there mooning over the bit of baggage.'

"Ravenclaw!"

'She's most likely batting those long, black lashes at him,' Snape snorted drawing a perplexed look from the Charms Professor. 'I can just imagine the fantasies that deviant fur-ball is conjuring up. Most likely something involving swollen lips turned down in a frown meant to be smoothed, smothered away by strong, demanding kisses.'

"Burton, Charles."

'The man is truly disgusting.'

"Gryffindor!"

'My God, that is the son of James Burton, the Appleby Arrows seeker. Damn!'

"You know you could be reeeaaalll nice and let me up."

"I'm sorry, Miss Davis, but that isn't going to happen."

Maddie simply sneered at the ragged-looking man in response. She was a sloucher by nature and having her body forced into a ramrod straight position was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

"Please, I promise not to run."

"I sincerely doubt that, Miss Davis."

Sighing, Maddie craned her head and cracked her neck, hoping the horrifying sound would incite some sympathy from her watchdog. Yet, the man just raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders.

"I can offer you nothing more than a pillow to cushion your head, but beyond that I can do nothing for you."

"I understand why you are so hesitant to release me; I attacked you and your headmaster, I get that. But, can you just stop for one moment and think about what I was going through? You kidnapped me from the train and when I woke up I was frightened. Can you really blame me for my reaction?"

Remus seemed to hesitate before offering a reluctant, "No".

"So you can understand why I fought you the way I did. It was the flight or fight reaction, it was instinctual. But now I am calm, I am willing to listen to what you have to say. Can't you just let me go? Please? My back really is starting throb."

Maddie consciously arranged her face in the most pathetic look she could conjure. She pushed her lower lip out, widened her eyes, and lowered her eyebrows; it was the essential puppy dog look for the more mature woman. It had always worked on her father before, so why not now?

"I am sorry for your discomfort, and I can truly tell that you have taken the time to collect yourself," Remus began with real regret in his voice. "I can't let you go, I can only assure you that Albus will be conscious of your plight and will return with all due haste."

"Well, he isn't making enough 'haste' to help me now! How can you honestly expect me to sit here and passively accept being deprived of my freedom on movement?"

Maddie felt her anger rising, a boiling, putrid pit of hot wrath stewing in her stomach. Yet, her captors had already demonstrated their great dislike of that particular emotion. So drawing a deep breath, Maddie pushed a cap over her welling resentment and decided to collect as much information from Remus as she could.

"I can't, for a moment, doubt that you men have some sort of power unknown to the rest of the world. But you have to understand that I am having a particularly hard time coming to terms with the claim of you all being wizards."

"That is completely understandable and very common reaction for anyone in your position to have."

How she hated his calm, reasoning tone, his cool, collected manner. How was it possible that this man could remain so placid in the face of such a harrowing situation? Why was he so accepting while she was so absolutely riled. She wanted to wipe that pitying smile off of his face. She wanted to yell and scream that neither he nor his companions were normal. She wanted to crudely inform him that this entire situation was so far beyond the beyond as to be truly terrifying.

Instead she softly asked, "Why does that old man think I am a witch?"

"I think perhaps that is a question this old man should answer, himself."

Severus watched as Albus once again explained the separation from the Wizarding world from the Muggle world. He was absolutely positive that the woman was a moron.

"Okay, I completely understand the fear of persecution. I can even comprehend the fact that actual magic exists in this world. What I can't understand is how your world has remained unknown, undiscovered for all of this time. There have to be other people out there who know all of this exists."

"There are," Albus continued with great patience, "The Muggle parents of our students must, of course, know, as well as some of the political officials around the world; but the general world does not."

"Yes, I understand that. But what about the others, I can't be the first non-witch…or whatever, to accidentally stumble upon the whole magic thing. What happens then?"

"We Obliviate them."

She turned towards him, the obvious question in her eyes, while Remus looked at him with barely contained annoyance.

"We erase their memories."

"You…erase…their memories? Isn't that immoral, like waving your power over lesser beings?"

Severus sneered at her wide-eyed naivety; leave it to a Muggle to question the morality of power.

"It is better that those who encounter the Wizarding world leave knowing nothing more than when they happened to stagger upon us."

Albus began, only the softest hint of annoyance entering his voice, "We cannot endanger ourselves over a question of right and wrong. Self-preservation is the key to the survival of our world."

Severus held her eyes and watched as an outspoken nature warred with great annoyance and dislike. Those two russet jewels sparkling with anger and self-control, her shell pink lips pulled tight with displeasure. It was a shame to see her features pinched into so ugly a configuration, they were actually quite lovely when she was in a calmer mind set.

Still, it was a shame that she was all beauty and no brains.

"Fine," the Davis woman began, pulling Snape from his musings," wizards are real, magic actually exists, and an entire culture thrives outside of what people see and know. That doesn't explain why you think I am a witch."

"Because, dear girl, you were accepted by the barrier."

"I beg your pardon?"

Severus ground his teeth together, an annoyingly familiar pain gathering just behind his eyes. To his thinking this interview had gone on long enough. He had classes to teach first thing in the morning; he had no time to play twenty questions with an unintelligent Muggle.

"A spell, Miss Davis," Severus ground out, "the passageway between platforms nine and ten is guarded by an anti-muggle spell. You somehow passed through that barrier; therefore the Headmaster suspects that you may be a witch."

"Okay! You don't have to speak down to me."

The annoying shrew crossed her arms under her breasts, lifting the exquisite pair higher for his inspection. He found them perfectly acceptable.

"The real question is what do you plan to do about it?"

Maddie rested her throbbing head against the back of the paisley couch in her temporary lodgings at the school. The events of the day running through her mind in an endless loop that served no other purpose but to further confuse her. Life, as she once believed it to be, was over and in its stead was this new and frightening reality. All that she had once known to be the absolute truth about the world was cruelly called into question and discarded as an utter fallacy. How does one even begin to rebuild their concepts of the world?

Yet, it wasn't just that she found herself exposed to a place, to an entire culture that shouldn't exist. It was the possibility, the almost certainty, that everything she thought herself to be wasn't what she truly was. Before today she had been Madelyn Aurora Davis, fun-loving lady who enjoyed dancing, reading, and writing. The woman who had spent years and money discovering who she was and accepting what she wasn't. Now she was Madelyn Aurora Davis, possible witch, a woman who had lived her life knowing so little about herself. Everything she had based her self-image on seemed to have disappeared in the face of something as great as a hidden ability for magic. It was an eerie feeling to doubt who you are and everything you've ever been.

'No,' Maddie thought, 'I can't think that way. The Headmaster only said he believed that I could be a witch. This isn't a sure thing, and given how long you've lived without experiencing anything remotely magical about yourself, it's probably unlikely. I am who am I, who I have always been.'

That, however, didn't change the fact that magic truly did exist in a world that steadily preached that such things were impossible flights of fantasy believed only by the insane and the young. If Maddie had been six years old a discovery such as this would have thrilled the shoes right off her feet. At twenty-nine, however, she was finding it truly hard to digest this new reality.

Her difficulty was only compounded by both the environment and the characters she had thus far encountered. This castle, for example, was beyond weird. Albus had personally escorted her through halls lined with paintings filled with interactive subjects and maintained with magic. He had led her up staircases that shifted at will and often at the most inopportune moments. Even the headmaster had gotten lost after the third floor stairs had shifted while they traversed their climbing heights. He had filled the time with pleasant conversation, and questions about herself.

Yet, Maddie couldn't help but feel that the old man was far less lost and more conniving than he gave the impression of being. While he may have been a man in his dotage, he was anything but declining. Once you got past the physical idiosyncrasies of the man, you were left with an overwhelming feeling of undeniable power. His eyes, though surrounded by the creases of time, were not dimmed, but rather sharpened with the years of knowledge he acquired through his lengthy life. Maddie couldn't help fighting a sense of insecurity, as if the man could look into her eyes and know her every thought. It was a certain power that he shared with the "Professional Bat Impersonator", as Maddie had come to call Professor Snape in her mind.

He, too, could seemingly summon the very secrets from her soul and coax them through her eyes. Yet, unlike the emotions of kind understanding Albus' ice chip-eyes could inspire, Snape left her feeling invaded, ravaged, and utterly breathless. It was a complex ball of feelings, a sensation of frightened passion; and such a confusing mixture as to be concerning all on their own. How could she even begin to feel any sort of attraction to a man so obviously violent and cold; never mind how physically unattractive he was.

He was a thin man, a look that was emphasized by his stature to the point of looking almost emaciated. The yards of unrelieved black he drenched himself in made his already pale complexion take on a sickly hue. His hair, oily as it was, was even black; obsidian streaks that laid limply about his head and shoulders. The lanky lengths drew attention to the proboscis that dominated his face, seemingly dwarfing his beady eyes and pinched lips.

He was by no means a pleasant looking character, and his attitude served only to reinforce his bitter appearance. Still, one could look at him with a kinder eye. The cut of his clothing did hint at a figure covered in strong, yet lean muscle. His eyes held within their inky depths a flame of 

untold power and barely restrained passion that had the ability to create a yearning heat centered low in Maddie's stomach. His voice was drenched with seduction, the words slipping from sinfully moist lips in a baritone emulsifyied its victims in exquisite chills of pleasure.

Maddie could feel the uncomfortable flush steal across her body, a guilty moistness gathered between her thighs. Her strong physical reaction called forth a sense of depravity buried deep within her subconscious; that unseemly, wicked part of her she only released to fuel her writings. What she was doing feeling so attracted, so drawn to a man whose persona promised only displeasure? Didn't she have more important things to think about? Perhaps how the very life she once lived was forever changed, eternally voided as if it had never mattered at all. So what was she doing fantasizing about a man such as Snape?

Perhaps this was just her way of handling things. She wasn't truly ready to face all of the consequences, the life-altering changes this single day had forced upon her, and so she simply fantasized about…Snape.

"Headmaster, I believe that there are extenuating circumstances which may be used to explain this woman's appearance in our world. This is not the first time some Muggle has haphazardly wandered into our midst, nor is it likely to be the last."

Albus nodded in agreement to Severus' statement. For in reality there were previous occurrences of the occasional stray Muggle defying a basic deterrent charm and unknowingly stumbling upon some part of the wizarding world. Such instances usually occurred in the more sparsely populated areas, small farming communities that used only the most basic of precautionary charms. But Madelyn Davis had been accepted by and successfully passed through the Hogwarts barrier which was guarded by the Prohibeo Inanua spell, a complex weaving of charms that allowed access to only those accepted as either witch or wizard.

"Severus, you know as well as I that the barrier spell differentiates between Muggle and Magical beings."

"Perhaps, Headmaster," Remus began softly, "the barrier has become faulty."

"As hesitant as I am to agree with Lupin, I must also question the continued efficiency of the original spell."

"I cast that spell myself, Remus, I can guarantee that its magic should in no way diminish over time. Still, it would be best that we test Prohibeo spell and examine all possibilities."

Albus rose slowly from his chair, the small aches and pains of age and stress collecting in his joints as exhaustion set in.

"Remus, I would like you to go back to Kings Cross Station and check the spell's strength. Severus, I would like you to spend some time with our Miss Davis, see what your keen sense can bring to light."


End file.
